What exactlly is a BangBaby? from "Static Shock"

[Ktkb3@aol.com]

I don't know who came up with it. But i want to know why everyone calls a mutant a "Bangbaby?" on "Static Shock." That is completely idotic! If you call somebody with baby in the name. Your probably reffering that they act like babies. Do they wear diapers? Do they cry like babies? Do they secretly talk like babies when they are alone? I don't get it! I seriously don't get it! I don't know what shmuck thought that up! It doesn't make any sense. It seems like they don't care. Can somebody please give me the real reason why they are named "Bangbaby's?" I hope you would tell me.

[Scythemantis]

Ummm? It does not imply that they act like babies. It just means that they were "born" into their powers or whatever.

It does sound a little dopey, but it's just supposed to sound like a media catchphrase for the mutations. And it does.

[Ekkostar]

It sounds like something perverted, IMHO.

[EHal]

I don't remember all of the details but in the first episode Static and several others are exposed to a gas explosion on a loading dock. They are all exposed to a strange purple gas that gave them all powers. The media termed the explosion the "Big Bang" hence anyone that got powers from the explosion is called a bang baby.

[Red X Unmasked]

Well, in the comics, the "Big Bang" was the name of the big street brawl between all the major gangs in Dakota. This is where they'd come and settle all problems once and for all. During the fihgt, that's when the police arrived and bombarded the docks (where the Big Bang took place) with this [seemingly] harmless tear gas that contained a radioactive marker/tracer in it, so that when the gas was inhaled and some of the gang members ran off, they'd later on be caught the next day because the police will be using their tracking devices to find anyone with the marker/tracer in them.
But things went horribly wrong. Turns out that the radioactive marker/tracer killed like 90% of the people there, while the others were hideously mutated or given mutagenic powers.
Since all of these were "born" from the Big Bang, they were deemed Bang Babies (but I can't exactly remember if the term Bang Babies was used as often in the comics as in the show).

Well in the show, the big exlposion was deemed the Big Bang, not the brawl, so I'm guessing anyone born with powers from the Big Bang were called Bang babies. It's as simple as that.

[Mynd Hed]

I think the word "baby" is meant the same way as in the term, "test tube baby," i.e. not in the literal sense that the person referred to is still an infant.

But, yes, the term does seem like a convoluted way to avoid using the word "mutant" and thus more flagrantly exposing that the show's premise bears a striking resemblence to a more popular franchise that begins with the letter "X".

[STARTOUNZ]

The term does seem like a convoluted way to avoid using the word "mutant" and thus more flagrantly exposing that the show's premise bears a striking resemblence to a more popular franchise that begins with the letter "X".That term was also brought up in the second episode, but Virgil felt they should be really called metahumans. And every now and then on the show that term was used as well.

[The Weed Of Cri]

The word "metahuman" is used repeatedly in Static Shock. Mutant is not used because none of the metahumans in Static Shock were born with their powers; most of them were acquired during the "Big Bang" incident of the first episode. While it has been established that the Bang Babies have been altered down on the genetic level, they are technically not mutants because mutation is something that happens as part of the genetic recombination process during reproduction.

[Jeff Harris]

I can't exactly remember if the term Bang Babies was used as often in the comics as in the show.Oh yeah, the term was used a lot in Static and Blood Syndicate, a whole gang of unethical antiheroes who tended to do some good despite having a lot of flaws. I think Aquamaria was the only member of the Syndicate seen on television. Gosh, Milestone's "Dakota" universe ruled.

I think that the reason the name "Bang Babies" caught on is because 99.5% of those suffering from the ill-effects of the gas were tweens and teens. I think it may have originated as a street slang term that later caught on with the local media in Dakota and the surrounding cities, including Gotham. Metahumans can be found throughout the DCAU. No mutants are around because, well, Marvel kinda has the term on lockdown for obvious reasons. :D
That's not to say that there aren't characters in the DCAU born with mutated genes, but they're more or less under the same umbrella as metahumans.

[PowerZord]

I always thought Bangbaby was called that way because the show is Hip-hop/rap influenced.

[raykremer]

Why "bang baby"? Alliteration.

[Wanted]

bang baby (n) - product of the big bang explosion

If you don't get that, then I can't spell it out any more.